1. Technical Field
The invention relates to projectiles, such as mortar projectiles, and in particular to devices for holding propellant charge for such projectiles.
2. Description of Related Art
Mortar projectiles are assembled with a number of consumable propelling charge increments or segments thereupon. A charge holder is used to support the charge increments prior to and during launch. Charge holders integral with the projectile have been employed. For fixed fin mortar projectiles, such integral charge holders have been utilized as a fin hub. For folding fin mortar projectiles, in which the fins are attached to the base of the projectile body, having an integral charge holder involves carrying the parasitic drag of the charge holder tube throughout flight. An alternative approach has been to discard the charge holder tube upon exit from the muzzle of a mortar launcher. However, this involves the risk that the discarded charge holder may fall upon friendly forces in the vicinity of the mortar, possibly resulting in undesirable casualties.